The Adult Male Alto Or Counter Tenor Voice

Excerpt from The Adult Male Alto, or Counter-Tenor Voice Moreover there are vocal questions of the most vital importance connected with falsetto singing problems that have a direct bearing upon voice pro duction in general. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The adult male alto is what may be styled an "ecclesiastical" voice. It is not much used outside of church choirs, and it has most unfortunately, and ignorantly, been confounded with a tabooed voice, from which, scientifically, it is completely dissociated.Consequently the subject treated in the following pages is not a popular one. Notwithstanding the enormous advance made by male choirs in recent years, a large majority of musicians, voice trainers, organists, choirmasters, music critics, etc., are not interested therein. A goodly number are actively opposed to ecclesiastical tradition, and to any further growth in the "boy choir" movement, as it is sometimes (and very erroneously) called.A topic that appeals only to the minority, and is sniffed at by the majority, is not one that a writer embraces with avidity. Perhaps it is for this reason that so little has been written about the Counter-tenor. Ridicule and abuse are valuable enough in their way, and often serve important educative ends, but the Counter-tenor voice has suffered from an over-dose of these correctives.The readers of this book may not side with the author in the views presented. But on two salient particulars they will agree with him. The first is that the multiplication of male choirs has caused a coincident demand for adult male altos - a demand that must be filled. And the second is that progress in any department of knowledge is not made by dodging the issues involved, and by keeping silence.

From the PREFACE. The adult male alto is what may be styled an "ecclesiastical" voice. It is not much used outside of church choirs, and it has most unfortunately, and ignorantly, been confounded with a tabooed voice, from which, scientifically, it is completely dissociated. Consequently the subject treated in the following pages is not a popular one. Notwithstanding the enormous advance made by male choirs in recent years, a large majority of musicians, voice trainers, organists, choirmasters, music critics, etc., are not interested therein. A goodly number are actively opposed to ecclesiastical tradition, and to any further growth in the "boy choir" movement, as it is sometimes (and very erroneously) called. A topic that appeals only to the minority, and is sniffed at by the majority, is not one that a writer embraces with avidity. Perhaps it is for this reason that so little has been written about the Counter-tenor. Ridicule and abuse are valuable enough in their way, and often serve important educative ends, but the Counter-tenor voice has suffered from an over-dose of these correctives. The readers of this book may not side with the author in the views presented. But on two salient particulars they will agree with him. The first is that the multiplication of male choirs has caused a coincident demand for adult male altos - a demand that must be filled. And the second is that progress in any department of knowledge is not made by dodging the issues involved, and by keeping silence.

In two parts, the first covering the history of the voice and the second part describes the mechanism and techniques of the counter-tenor.

This significant reference of over 600 entries compiles and catalogues information about repertoire composed specifically for the countertenor from 1950 to 2000. Representing more than 350 composers, it provides a resource for countertenors and voice teachers to identify and become more familiar with contemporary works for countertenor.